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Copycat Montreal Seasoning

Steaks and chops taste great with this copycat Montreal seasoning. You’ll save a bundle making it yourself too!

Just In Time For BBQ Season: Montreal Seasoning

Soon we’ll be firing up our grills and searing steaks, chops and burgers.

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Nothing goes better on all those than Montreal seasoning. I used to buy this pre-mixed at the store and it would set me back close to $5 for a small bottle. It was so good, and I liked it, so I’d bite the bullet and pay for it. Thanks to Google, I found a copycat recipe for this delicious condiment. The rest is history as they say.

The Extra Steps Are Worth It

I make a lot of my own dressing and seasoning mixes. Mainly, they taste better and I can control the salt in them, but I also know I’m using pure ingredients with no added chemicals.

Most of my copycat seasonings only involve measuring and mixing. However, this seasoning blend requires a couple of extra steps, and it’s worth it.

This blend contains a number of seeds. First, the seeds must be toasted. This step doesn’t take long–about 2 minutes–but toasting adds a ton of flavor. Another benefit is that it scents your house beautifully! It’s a natural air freshener!

Toasting the seeds

Next, you have to coarsely crush the toasted seed. A mortar and pestle is handy here, but a heavy skillet works well too if you put the seeds in a zipper plastic bag. Another way to do this is to use a coffee grinder. I bought an inexpensive grinder specifically for spices since I didn’t want my one for coffee having other flavors that could adulterate the coffee. One or two short pulses on the grinder works perfectly.

Adding the other ingredients

Seeds Last

Unlike dehydrated leaf herbs and spices, seeds, which are a whole spice, last on your shelf.

I bet you probably have black peppercorns on hand but you may have to buy coriander seeds, dill seeds and mustard seed. They have other uses besides the Montreal seasoning, so you will use them. For instance, I use mustard seed and coriander seed in one of my pulled pork recipes. But as I said, they have a long shelf life so you will have them on hand to make the seasoning mix again.

Remember to check out the dollar stores for these spices. I have one local dollar store that sells many “exotic” spices. In fact, it’s one complete aisle in the store and they literally have everything. And it’s fresh too because they do a very brisk business on those; they sell out quickly.

Place the peppercorns, mustard seed, dill seed and coriander seed in a small skillet. Toast over medium heat until they become aromatic and begin to pop. Remove from heat and allow them to cool.

Crush cooled toasted seeds using a mortar and pestle or pulse 1 or 2 times in a small coffee grinder. You can also put the seeds in a zipper freezer bag and crush them with the bottom of a heavy skillet (cast iron is good).

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. What I do is add them to the mortar and lightly crush everything together.

Place in an air-tight container.

Notes

You can reduce the salt by half to ¾ if you are watching your sodium. Some salt is necessary for the flavor so I wouldn't advise omitting it entirely.